Asia dominates ICCA's Marketing Awards

International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) honoured five of its members with a special edition of their Best Marketing Award (BMA), which celebrates innovation and resilience in a Covid-hit business events scene.

Given out since 1997, the award recognises the outstanding achievements of organisations in marketing their destination or product. This has become extremely difficult in pandemic days, which led to the Association's decision to introduce this new award applauding the best examples of leadership in transformation.

"In these economic and societal conditions, we felt that it was inappropriate to run our normal ICCA Best Marketing Award," said chairman of the judges and BMA Moderator, Patrick Delaney of SoolNua. "However, we did want to recognise the amazing role ICCA members have played in this very difficult situation, so we combined our Global Destination Sustainability Award and the Best Marketing Award to highlight the key role in transformational leadership that ICCA members have played throughout the world."

Of the many applications submitted for consideration, these five organisations were found to have showcased a winning combination of creativity, innovation, local outreach, and also leadership in transformation via strong community engagement and collaborative works.

For instance, in South Korea, KINTEX had reopened amid the pandemic thanks to an innovative and yet comprehensive framework, which has since been adopted by various countries globally as the go-to standard in the business events scene.

Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) identified a gap in their local supply chain: lack of knowledge among the PCO community of the scope of work and services required by international planners. KLCC then formed a partnership with the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) to launch IAPCO webEDGE —an online platform offering globally accredited training to Malaysian Professional Congress Organisers (PCOs).

“The award is a reflection of the team’s commitment and determination to keep resilient, innovative and to maintain positivity while ensuring we continue to elevate our market presence and standards of excellence,” said Angeline van den Broecke, director of global business development and marketing, KLCC.

The awards were given out at the global hybrid 59th ICCA Congress in Kaohsiung — the association’s first-ever hybrid, multi-hub event held virtually from 1-3 November 2020.